Your Mommie Needs Sleep
by Random Dice
Summary: Using her left hand, Gabrielle laced her fingers into the raven haired woman's and rested her right on the belly. She felt the baby move beneath her palm and understood why Xena had looked so pained.


**Title:** Your Mommie Needs Sleep  
><strong>Fandom:<strong> Xena the Warrior Princess  
><strong>Pairings:<strong> Xena/Gabrielle  
><strong>Rating:<strong> K+  
><strong>Spoilers:<strong> Anything is fair game.  
><strong>Summary: <strong>Using her left hand, Gabrielle laced her fingers into the raven haired woman's and rested her right on the belly. She felt the baby move beneath her palm and understood why Xena had looked so pained.  
><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Yes, I spell Mommie with an 'ie' instead of a 'y'. I was playing around with the idea for this for a while, so I figured I'd write my very first Xena fanfiction. I like to pretend almost everything after Eve's birth never happened, so this may be weird, or not at all because this is when Xena is still pregnant. I wanted some more cute moments with Pregnant!Xena and Gabrielle, but… Enjoy this little bit of…fluff?  
><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I don't own Xena, or Gabrielle, or the storyline, but if I did, season six? Never would have happened. Maybe the kiss.

/

It was dark out. The sun set long ago, taking the safety of daylight with it. It was a surprisingly calm night. The crickets chirped, gently rubbing their legs together to speak with their companions who responded with favor. The distant screeching of a bat calling to her mate echoed quietly through out the forest. Stars glistened in the overhead sky, shining like a million tiny windows.

All this, and Gabrielle couldn't sooth her restlessness. She lay on one side, gazing at the glowing embers of their once bright, burning fire. It only kept her attention for so long before she flipped onto her back to stare at the spotted night. She began to count the specs of white, going all the way to one hundred and eighty three, before her eyes drooped.

At two hundred and twelve, mere seconds from dreaming with Morpheus, a sound caught her ears. It wasn't that of nature, or an intruder, but of the woman who lay next to her.

Xena was tired all day, so her falling asleep the moment her body touched the bedroll came as no surprise to the short haired blonde. The raven haired beauty was on her side, facing Gabrielle, with her long coat folded and tucked under her ever growing belly to ease the weight of the baby. Her face, which was once peaceful earlier in the night, now held a growing pain of discomfort.

A moan passed from the Warrior's lips and her hand slid over her swollen belly, subconsciously rubbing the stretched skin. Gabrielle slowly sat up, never letting her eyes drift from the spot where her soul mate continued to rub. The Battling Bard quietly scooted her body closer to Xena and sat with her legs crisscross directly in front of the other woman's abdomen.

Using her left hand, Gabrielle laced her fingers into the raven haired woman's and rested her right on the belly. She felt the baby move beneath her palm and understood why Xena had looked so pained. The blonde went and, with one hand, unlaced the ties that closed the fabric over the active baby. Once the blue and black material fell away, Gabrielle rubbed circles with her full hand on warm, bare skin to calm the baby.

When the infant continued to move, Gabrielle leaned in close, her lips ghosting across pale skin. "Baby, go back to sleep." She cooed. "Wake up in the morning with your Mommie and sing to you." The shift kicks died down. The blonde glanced at her companion's face and saw it begin to relax. "That's a good job." She whispered, kissing where the baby had stuck its hand just moments ago. "Your Mommie needs sleep."

"So does its other Mommie." Gabrielle started and stared at Xena's groggy blue eyes. The moon light shined down, softly illuminating her soul mate's dark mane and making her so much more beautiful to Gabrielle.

"How long have you been awake?" The blonde asked softly, not daring to move her hand from Xena's belly or her other hand that was comfortably resting in a slightly larger hand. The pregnant woman yawned and blinked a few times to jog her sleeping mind.

"Since the little one sucker punched my insides." She finally answered. "What are you doing awake?" Gabrielle blushed and let her gaze fall to both their hands. They fit so perfectly, it was as if they were made for each other. The Bard's thumb was moving back and forth on the knuckle of Xena's thumb. She found it soothed her more so than it did Xena. The other woman gently squeezed the short haired woman's fingers. "Gabrielle?"

By the Gods, even the way she simply said her name made Gabrielle's heart race. "I never went to sleep. It seems to be one of those nights." She answered the Warrior. "I've tried everything, but I probably won't sleep tonight. The baby shares my feelings, I suppose, but my voice or my touch calms it."

Xena began to move to sit up. "Do you want me to stay awake with you and keep you company?" Gabrielle pushed her back down gently.

"No, no. I'm fine. Please go back to sleep." The blonde said hurriedly and with a pleading in her tone. She knew Xena was tired and if they didn't have to stop a Warlord, or end a massacre between villages, why shouldn't the Warrior Princess sleep? "The baby is restless and you're tired. You sleep and I'll tell the baby a story or two."

"It's not fair to you if I sleep and you don't." Argued the crystal eyed woman. Since Xena had discovered she was pregnant, Gabrielle was distant. She believed Xena when she said that she didn't know who the father was because she hadn't had sex with a man in a long time, but that didn't stop the steps she mentally took back after hearing the news.

"I will sleep, I promise." Gabrielle leaned forward and brushed her lips against the skin of the Warrior's abdomen, but keeping full eye contact with her. "I want to tell the baby a story. I'll sleep afterwards." Gabrielle didn't shift her eyes when she felt Xena begin to study her, making sure she was being honest. She learned that to Xena, if you looked away, you were most likely hiding something. Gabrielle was not.

"Okay then. Please try not to pick to long of one." The raven haired woman rolled her eyes when the blonde grinned, so she did not immediately see Gabrielle swoop in, and by the time she did, the blonde had already pecked her on the lips.

"Once upon a time, there was a village girl who was about to be sold in to slavery…"

Xena had struggled to stay awake during the telling of their first meeting, but the Siren's call for sleep was to strong and she lost herself to a welcomed darkness. She woke briefly when she felt Gabrielle untangle their fingers and lay parallel to her soul mate. The Bard's bare midriff pressed to Xena's still exposed belly as she tucked her head under the Warrior's chin. "Goodnight Xena." She responded by wrapping an arm around the Bard and pulling her closer.

_The End_


End file.
